Biologically inspired digital fabrication

Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 37-40).Objects and systems in nature are models for the practice of sustainable design and fabrication. From trees to bones, natural systems are characterized by the constant interplay of creation, environmental response, and analysis of current structural constituents, as part of a larger dynamic system. In contrast, traditional methods of digital design and fabrication are characterized by a linear progression of three main stages: modeling (digital generation in the digital domain), analysis (digital mapping of the physical domain), and fabrication (physical generation of the digital domain). Moving towards a system process where modeling, analysis, and fabrication are integrated together for the development of a dynamic process will transform traditional fabrication technology and bring about the creation of sustainable and more efficient synthetic environments. Integration of modeling, analysis, and fabrication into one fluid process requires the development of a fabrication platform with capabilities for real time control. This thesis explores and investigates the creation of a framework for real time control of industrial robotic arms as part of a multipurpose fabrication platform.by Sarah Han.M. Eng

Panel. Books and Things

“Bookless Mississippi”: The Cultural Economy of Reading in the Depression-Era South / Sarah E. Gardner, Mercer UniversityThis paper examines the ways in which academics along with book industry insiders understood depressed rates of book buying and borrowing in the South. These were no idle concerns. During the 1930s, the south accounted for a little more than 7 percent of the nation’s book purchases. High rates of poverty and illiteracy accounted for much of the problem, but not all. Those with a vested interest in fostering “book consciousness” in the south, including Howard Odum, Louis Round Wilson, and William Couch, devised creative schemes to promote reading in the region. Not surprisingly, their efforts proved largely unsuccessful. As they quickly learned, those concerned solely with the bottom line were content to write the south off. The implications were considerable. As newspaper editor Jonathan Daniels ruefully observed, “books in the South, like cotton in the South, are produced for the export trade.”Flem Snopes Under the Material Spell: Reading Things in the Snopes Trilogy / Han Qiqun, Nanjing Forestry UniversityThis paper scrutinizes a manifold of systematically related things Flem Snopes possessed, bought and gave as gifts in the Snopes Trilogy, and especially explores the material powers of things in the formation of social identity and gender subjectivity of Flem. Flem, quasi-thing like under the material spell, is employed by William Faulkner to represent the dark side of the American Dream within the context of the transforming south, displaying an interactive relationship between the social changes and the southern citizens’ identity in the transitional period from the American new south to the modern south

Reachable Workspace and Proximal Function Measures for Quantifying Upper Limb Motion.

There are a lack of quantitative measures for clinically assessing upper limb function. Conventional biomechanical performance measures are restricted to specialist labs due to hardware cost and complexity, while the resulting measurements require specialists for analysis. Depth cameras are low cost and portable systems that can track surrogate joint positions. However, these motions may not be biologically consistent, which can result in noisy, inaccurate movements. This paper introduces a rigid body modelling method to enforce biological feasibility of the recovered motions. This method is evaluated on an existing depth camera assessment: the reachable workspace (RW) measure for assessing gross shoulder function. As a rigid body model is used, position estimates of new proximal targets can be added, resulting in a proximal function (PF) measure for assessing a subject's ability to touch specific body landmarks. The accuracy, and repeatability of these measures is assessed on ten asymptomatic subjects, with and without rigid body constraints. This analysis is performed both on a low-cost depth camera system and a gold-standard active motion capture system. The addition of rigid body constraints was found to improve accuracy and concordance of the depth camera system, particularly in lateral reaching movements. Both RW and PF measures were found to be feasible candidates for clinical assessment, with future analysis needed to determine their ability to detect changes within specific patient populations

Evaluating Standardized Assessments’ Ability to Capture Lived Experience of Cancer Patients and Survivors in Art Therapy Groups

This paper explores the use of quantitative assessments typically used in research to evaluate experiences of cancer patients and survivors receiving group art therapy services. Literature exploring program evaluation as a methodology, how current research selects standardized measurement tools for the evaluation of art therapy interventions with adult cancer patients and survivors, and on the efficacy of art therapy with this population is reviewed. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from four participants, who were clients in two eight-week art therapy groups. Quantitative data were collected in the form of pre- and post-test measurements using six commonly used standardized quality of life assessment tools. Qualitative data were collected via focus groups and art responses. Quantitative data were analyzed to identify general trends in the pre- and post-test measures, demonstrating that no significant positive shifts in symptoms or well-being were documented in the tests. Qualitative data were then analyzed to identify six prominent themes, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the participants’ experience of the tests, the participants’ perceived personal value of the tests, pre- and post-test measures as containment of experience, art responses as accurate representations of the benefits of art therapy, participants’ passion for art therapy, and participants’ feelings that standardized tests did not accurately capture their experience in the group. These findings were then examined in the context of the literature reviewed, and it was concluded that while standardized assessments have a valuable place in research, they do not effectively capture the lived experience of participants in art therapy groups. Furthermore, future research should continue to explore the value of qualitative research, including that which uses art-making, in evaluating art therapy programs and effectiveness

An Oxidative Dearomatization Approach To Prepare the Pentacyclic Core of Ryanodol

An approach to synthesize the pentacyclic framework of the polyol diterpenoid ryanodol is reported. The ABC tricycle was constructed by a Co-mediated Pauson–Khand reaction, and both radical and anionic cyclization pathways were developed to form the E-ring. In addition, a reaction sequence involving SeO_2-mediated enone oxidation and hydroxyl-directed oxy-Michael addition was developed to introduce the A-ring oxidation. The feasibility of forming the bridging D-ring by an oxidative dearomatization was established

A 16-step synthesis of the isoryanodane diterpene (+)-perseanol

(+)-Perseanol is an isoryanodane diterpene that is isolated from the tropical shrub Persea indica and has potent antifeedant and insecticidal properties. It is structurally related to (+)-ryanodine, which is a high-affinity ligand for and modulator of ryanodine receptors—ligand-gated ion channels that are critical for intracellular Ca^(2+) signalling in most multicellular organisms. Ryanodine itself modulates ryanodine-receptor-dependent Ca^(2+) release in many organisms, including mammals; however, preliminary data indicate that ryanodane and isoryanodane congeners that lack the pyrrole-2-carboxylate ester—such as perseanol—may have selective activity in insects. Here we report a chemical synthesis of (+)-perseanol, which proceeds in 16 steps from commercially available (R)-pulegone. The synthesis involves a two-step annulation process that rapidly assembles the tetracyclic core from readily accessible cyclopentyl building blocks. This work demonstrates how convergent fragment coupling, when combined with strategic oxidation tactics, can enable the concise synthesis of complex and highly oxidized diterpene natural products

Analyzing the Mediating Effects of Social Capital and Sense of Community Between International Student’s College Sports Team Identification and Acculturation

Previous studies focused on the role of leisure activities, such as physical activity participation, to analyze how international students can receive social support from their communities to better acculturate in the U.S. This study focused on the role of college sports in providing social support and its effect on international student’s acculturation. Four hundred eighty-seven international students enrolled in 25 Power-5 affiliated colleges participated in this study to analyze the acculturation path model suggested by the primary researcher. The initial path model did not show a statistically significant model fit, which led to modifying the model once following the available theory in academia. As a result, the proposed model resulted in a good model fit (RMSEA = .03, SRMR = .01, CFI = 1.00, TLI = .98). Discussions on utilizing spectator sports to promote international students’ acculturation, suggestions for future study options, and limitations of the study were provided

Establishment of an isotope dilution LC-MS/MS method revealing kinetics and distribution of co-occurring mycotoxins in rats

An isotope dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method with a fast sample preparation using homemade clean-up cartridges was developed for simultaneous determination of co-occurring mycotoxins exemplified with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and T-2 toxin (T-2) in representative biomatrices of rat plasma, heart, liver, kidney, spleen, lung and brain in a total run time of 7 min. The established approach using stable internal standards of [C-13(17)]-AFB1 and [C-13(24)]-T-2 was extensively validated by determining the specificity, linearity (R-2 >= 0.9990), sensitivity (lower limit of quantitation at 0.05 ng mL(-1)), accuracy (70.9-107.7%), precision (RSD = 70.8%). Based on this methodological advance, the subsequent kinetics and tissue distribution after oral administration of 0.5 mg kg(-1) b.w. of both AFB1 and T-2 in rats were thoroughly studied. As revealed, both AFB1 and T-2 were rapidly eliminated with the half-life time (t(1/2)) in plasma of 8.44 +/- 4.02 h and 8.12 +/- 4.05 h, respectively. Moreover, AFB1 accumulated in all organs where the highest concentration was observed in liver (1.34 mu g kg(-1)), followed by kidney (0.76 mu g kg(-1)). Notably, only low levels of T-2 were observed in spleen (0.70 mu g kg(-1)) and in liver (0.15 mu g kg(-1)). The achieved data as supporting evidence would substantially promote the practical application of the proposed LC-MS/MS method for in vivo toxicokinetics and toxicity studies of co-occurring mycotoxins imitating natural incidence in rat system